K2 with the paraglider: 8611 m without oxygen and solo!

Mountaineer and paraglider pilot Jean Yves Fredriksen has achieved the unthinkable! On July 29, 2024, he climbed to the summit of K2 (the second highest and most feared peak in the world) without oxygen via a completely new route: the Kukuczka route and the Cesen spur. He flew down it with a paraglider, something no one had ever managed before. An absolute altitude record without oxygen and without any other support.
Neo Mountain K2 Jean-Yves Fredriksen

NEO had developed a special rucksack and paraglider harness for this ascent: the Mountain K2, an ultra-light and extremely robust mountaineering rucksack made from DyneemaÂź Ripstop and the String 3.0
The collaboration between Jean Yves and NEO is a story of trust and loyalty that has lasted for over 10 years: in 2016, Jean Yves crossed the Himalayas solo by paraglider (over 4000 km in 4 months) with NEO’s ultra-light harness: the String, weighing only 290 g.
NEO is the only workshop that manufactures technical mountaineering backpacks and paragliding harnesses 100 % in France.

The heroic deed of Jean-Yves, known in mountaineering circles as “Blutch”, pushes the boundaries of mountaineering:

  • First descent with a paraglider from the summit of K2.
  • First paragliding flight without oxygen and without support at this altitude
  • 20 minutes for the return to 6600 m
  • A three-day solo climb on a 3600 m high wall!
  • The only ascent of K2 this year in alpine style and outside the the well-equipped and frequently climbed normal route.
  • An unprecedented legendary route combination. The Kukuczka route, followed by the Messner traverse, linked with the Cesen spur up to an altitude of 7800 m, where the route rejoins the normal route for the last 800 m.
  • A single camp at 6600 m.
  • A single descent option: paragliding!
  • Ascent from the camp at 6600 m: 5.30 am.
  • Reach the summit: 14:00 the next day.
  • 32 hours non-stop.

3 other mountaineers who had climbed K2 on the classic route also flew from the summit on the same day.